Tag: meritocracy

In a word, living in Australia is great . . . “a lucky country” in the downunder world, geographically speaking that is. Everything else is top of the world . . . rich in natural resources, largest continental island in the world, beautiful weather with sun, surf & sand for fun lovers, good first class education, opportunities for one & all in a truly cosmopolitan nation. Most importantly, fairness is practised in true meritocratic way.

I am a Chinese by descent . . . an Australian by consent. My family & I have been in Perth, Western Australia since 1982, that is more than quarter of my life. It is indeed a fortunate life with my three offsprings all acquiring tertiary education from a PhD holder, a specialist medical doctor to a civil engineer.

Though born & bred in Malaysia, I could never consider myself a Malaysian because of the non meritocratic system of extreme corrupt government since independence from British colonial rule. Every non Malay race is marginalised in all aspects of human endeavour & life. Needless for me to go into any detail of the ongoing unfairness & injustice upon looking back & looking in from outside. There’s no meritocracy but sheer “democrazy”. Brain drain from the country is no surprise. What’s Malaysia’s loss is gain to countries like Singapore, Australia, US, UK & Canada.

Everyone wants & deserves a good life, but not to expect & demand on hand-outs, for that would be tantamounting to living on your knees rather than dying on your feet. You’ve got to work, not only working hard but working smart as well. Work is God’s design for our natural living.

In Australia the aged are well taken of. Medical care can be said to be par excellence. All possible help are extended to make life of the aged comfortable & safe. Under the scheme known as Home & Community Care (HACC), there are organisations offering facilities to take good care of you, especially as the song goes “When you grow too old to dream, you’d have them to remember”.

Really, old people can keep on living in their own home, best place to be, rather than to scale down moving to units or aged homes, unless it is absolutely necessary. If you are living alone, Red Cross provides visitor service whereby a visitor would come by on a regular basis to keep you company, have a chat with you, have tea or a game of card, or take you out shopping or medical appointments. Other organisations also provide such a service & other home services as well like domestic cleaning, minor home maintenance, gardening.

There’s that Triple A Care (Australian Asian Aged Care Program) with multiple home & community care services. Charges for the services are subsidised & all that is required is $8 per hour.

TADWA’s (Technology Assisting Disability WA) purpose is to improve the quality & enjoyment of life for people with disabilities, older people & those caring for them through the application of technology & the skills of volunteers & staff. For our home, they came & installed safety railings for our steep driveway, front & back garden steps. All we need pay pay is for the materials.

In the case of Chorus (its old name Volunteer Task Force) apart from providing gardening service & other domestic services, organises outings to places of interest & lunches. I am particularly impressed by their friendliness,helpfulness with extreme care & attention.`The staff & the team of volunteers are about the nicest people you will ever meet. A stranger is but a friend you have not met. You can have hundreds of friends`but none near you or ever in sight, you might just as well be by yourself.

Old habits die hard. Nothing like living the life you are so accustomed to`. . . free & easy to be living in your own home.`A man’s home is his castle, however modest or otherwise.`

In the final analysis, I wish the best for all Malaysians. I would further add by quoting what the DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said: ” If we love Malaysia, we must unite as Malaysian patriots to save Malaysia from corruption, kleptocracy, injustices, exploitation and the fate of a third-world nation”.““““`“““““““““

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Looking at the western democratic governments these last 30 years, more negatives than positives are apparent. The latest to add to the fold of turmoil & instability is Egypt – an ancient civilisation that once held its glory & pride. US, so claimed as the master of western democracy, in its attempt to dominate & impose its system of government on others has itself been drowning in the ocean of economic woes & other problems.

In the article below, the Shanghai Chinese author presents to us the meritocratic system of the Chinese government that ignorant critics are quick to condemn. Knowing the truth will breed better understanding of the merits & the way the system works.

Deng Xiaoping referred to it as “capitalism with Chinese characteristics.”

Here’s to the Most Vocal & Unforgivably Uninformed . . . who will begin to understand why China has emerged as a major political and economic power on the international stage, and the pace of this growth has been astonishing.

China is like having the longest root of capitalism to capitalism. Its meritocracy is certainly a good or even better alternative to US imperial democracy.

You probably already know that China has a system of annual university entrance examinations, taken by about 10 million students each year. This set of examinations is quite stiff and perhaps even harsh, covering many subjects and occupying three days. The tests require broad understanding, deep knowledge and high intelligence, if one is to do well. Any student whose results are near the top of the list, is in the top 2% or 3% of a pool of 1.5 billion people.

Getting a high mark qualifies a student to enter one of the top two or three universities, which will virtually guarantee a great job on graduation, a high salary and a good life. Moving down the scale of results, the prospects become increasingly meager. You may not know that China also has a system of bar examinations which every graduate lawyer must pass in order to practice law in China. For these, we can bypass “stiff” and “harsh” and go directly to “severe”. Out of about 250,000 graduate lawyers who sit for the exam, only about 20,000 will pass and obtain qualifications to actually be a practicing lawyer in China. Once again, the exams require broad understanding of all matters legal, deep knowledge of the laws, and high intelligence. So if you happen to meet a Chinese lawyer, you can be assured you are dealing with someone from top 1% or 2% of a pool of 1.5 billion people.

I mention these two items only to introduce a third – the Civil Service Examinations.

The Imperial examinations were designed many centuries ago to select the best administrative officials for the state’s bureaucracy. They lasted as long as 72 hours, and required a great depth and breadth of knowledge to pass. It was an eminently fair system in that the exam itself had no qualifications. Almost anyone, even from the least educated family in the poorest town, could sit the exam and, if that person did well enough, he or she could join the civil service and potentially rise to the top. The modern civil service examination system evolved from the imperial one, and today, millions of graduates write these each year. And for these, we can bypass “severe” and go directly to “brutal”, because out of the millions of candidates only about 10,000 will get a pass.

The Chinese Have High Standards

And that pass doesn’t get you a job; all it gets you is an interview. If you meet anyone in China’s central government, you can rest assured you are speaking to a person who is not only exceptionally well educated and knowledgeable on a broad range of national issues but is in the top 1% of a pool of 1.5 billion people. Moreover, China’s government officials are all highly-educated and trained engineers, economists, sociologists, scientists, often at a Ph.D. level.

Contrast this with the Western system where most politicians are either lawyers or those with no useful education. We should also remember that the Chinese generally score about 10% higher on standard IQ tests than do Caucasian Westerners, and couple this with the Chinese process of weeding out all but the top 1% from consideration. When you add further the prospect of doing your weeding from a pool of 1.5 billion people, you might expect China’s Central Government to be rather better qualified than that of most other countries. And it is.

The point of this is to bring your attention to the disparity between the quality of ‘politicians’ in Western countries and China’s government officials. The discrepancy is so vast that comparisons are largely meaningless.

Friends, Family and ‘Connections’

There are some who will tell you that family connections in China can produce a government job for some favored son, a claim that may be true in some places though extremely difficult at the national level. But no amount of ‘connections’ will move you into senior positions or to the top of decision-making power; those places are reserved for persons of deep experience and proven ability. “Of the Communist Party’s highest ruling body, the 25-member Politburo, only seven came from any background of wealth or power. The rest of them, including the president and the prime minister, were from ordinary backgrounds with no special advantages. They worked and competed all the way to the top.

In the larger Central Committee, those with privileged backgrounds are even scarcer. A visit to any top university campus in China would make it obvious to anyone that the Communist Party continues to attract the best and the brightest of the country’s youth. In fact, China’s Communist Party may be one of the most meritocratic and upwardly mobile major political organizations in the world – far more meritocratic than the ruling elites of most Western countries and the vast majority of developing countries.”

(1)Choosing the Nation’s Leaders

Consider how it would be if a Western country could identify and assemble the 300 best, brightest, wisest, most educated and experienced people in the nation, men and women of great proportion whose depth and breadth of knowledge and ability were the envy of all. And consider this group selecting some to be their leaders – the Prime Minister, President, Cabinet members. That’s essentially how China does it. On what basis can we tell them their way is wrong? For Westerners to refer to this as a dictatorship is offensive and merely stupid.

In contradistinction to the West, China’s system cannot produce incompetence at the top because in a population of 1.5 billion people there are just too many available candidates with stunningly impressive credentials. In China’s system, leaders and officials are evaluated and selected by their peers, not by the unqualified and uninformed ‘man in the street’. It is the only government system in the world that ensures competence at the top, because these people are evaluated on the basis of real credentials rather than public popularity or TV charisma.

Leaders are selected on the basis of true leadership, on their ability to bring together all factions, to create harmony and consensus on their realisable vision for the country, to wisely control and direct the military. They have a firm understanding of the economy, of the nation, of society and its problems and the best way to meet them. They are not only admired and respected by their peers, but able to draw others to them in order to form that consensus and harmony that are so desirable and necessary for stability.

Education and Training of Government Officials

There is another factor to consider, that of education and training. In the West, senior government officials – the politicians – are seldom renowned for competence or even intelligence. For the Western politicians who who exercise all the real decision power to shape a country, there is no education or training available or required. It is all a kind of ‘earn while you learn’ system.

In China, those who will become the senior officials and civil servants have entered a lifelong career in a formidable meritocracy where promotion and responsibility can be obtained only by demonstrated ability. Once in the system, the education and training are never-ending. The system is generally well understood within China, and it meshes well with Chinese culture and tradition as well as conforming to the Chinese psyche in their Confucian overview and their desire for social order and (yes) harmony. The Western world understands this dimly, if at all, and inevitably forms incorrect and often absurd conclusions about China and its government – especially the mindless references to China being a ‘dictatorship’.

The President Goes to School

The Central Party School in Beijing has been called the most mysterious school in China, and is like no other university or college anywhere. Here is a link to an article on this university that will give you more information: Read here. At various times, the most promising young and middle-aged officials attend this university for up to a year at a time, to expand their knowledge and understanding of all issues relating to China.

The Headmaster of the school is often the President of China, and the lecturers are usually foreign dignitaries, high-level officials, and renowned experts on everything from economics and international finance to social policy, foreign policy, industrial policy and even military matters. The cornerstone of the school’s educational policy is that everything is on the table. There are no forbidden topics, and even reactionary, revolutionary or just plain whacky positions are discussed, analysed and debated to resolution. All manner of planning, problems, solutions, alternatives, will be discussed, examined, debated, explained, with any number of prominent experts available as reference material.

When these sessions are completed, all students will have an MBA-level or better appreciation of the entire subject. And this is only one subject of many they will encounter. When you consider that these officials entered the government with an already high level of education, and with an already demonstrated broad level of understanding and exceptional intelligence, these additional layers of training and education cannot help but produce an impressive level of overall knowledge and ability throughout the government. Nothing like this system exists in the West, which is why senior civil servants in most Western countries often look on their leader-politicians with a mixture of disdain and contempt for their lack of knowledge and ability.

The Functioning of China’s Government

Few Westerners have bothered to learn even the simple basics about the form of China’s government, preferring instead to parrot foolish Western supremacist nonsense about China being a dictatorship. China has a one-party government.

If you listen to Western ideologues, you will be told this is heresy in the eyes of the Gods of Government in 6 galaxies. But it is no such thing, and contains enormous advantages. Here, there is no forced separation of officials on the basis of political ideology. China’s entire social spectrum is represented in government in the same way as in Chinese – or any other – society.

There is no partisan in-fighting.

Unlike the West, China’s system looks for consensus rather than conflict. Government decision-making is not a sport where my team has to win. It is simply a group of people with various viewpoints working together to obtain a consensus for policy and action for the overall good of their nation. From everything I have seen, China’s one-party system is superior in many respects to what we have in the West. This is what has produced a growth rate of over 10% per year for 30 years, compared to perhaps 3% in the West. And how can it be otherwise?

China’s government doesn’t waste its time fighting juvenile ideological battles with ‘opposition parties’, but instead everyone gets down to the business of doing the best for the nation. China’s government leaders manage by consensus, not by power, authority or bullying. It is their job to create agreement and unified willing participation in the country’s policies to meet its goals. At this level there are no children, and there is no one person with the power to start a war just because he doesn’t like someone, or who is free to alienate other nations on the basis of some blind personal ideology.

Lobbying and Influence

In China, many people and industries are permitted to present their case, but private or short-term interests will not emerge victorious in this system. Your proposals will receive support and will succeed only if they are to the long-term benefit of the country as a whole – the greatest good for the nation and for the population. That’s how it works. In the US system, corporations control the government; in China’s, the government controls the corporations. And those firms may often not get their way even if they are government-owned. Consider the introduction of HSR (High-Speed Rail) in China. Some Chinese airlines (especially the state-owned ones), complained like hell, and with good reason, about the inauguration of HSR. Some have had to dramatically scale back their flight schedules because many people prefer the train. But the wide HSR network was seen as being in the best interests of the entire country and it went ahead. Read more here. That is also why China has the best (and cheapest) mobile phone system in the world. Read more here.

The “Loyal Opposition”

China’s system also has an ‘opposition’, but this body has two major differences from Western governments. Also, it functions intelligently, so let’s make that three major differences. First, it does not function to ‘oppose’ but rather to consult. This body is charged with the responsibility to consider not only the government’s directions and policies but also to devise alternatives and make recommendations. And the government must by law consider and respond to all these consultations – which it does. Second, this opposition group are not the marginalised ‘losers’ as in the Western systems but a second tier of extremely competent people who were not selected to the top governing positions. And, rather than lose all this expertise, this secondary group was created to contribute to the development of their country.

The Success of Government

Probably the greatest deciding factor permitting China’s rise is the political environment. China’s one-party government is in for the long term; it makes no short-term decisions for the sake of political expediency. China makes decisions for the good of the whole country and, having made them, implements them.

There is no partisanship, no lobbyists, no special interest groups that skew these important decisions and rob the population of what they might have had.

The benefits of this system can be seen in its results. China has already far surpassed the undeveloped nations that adopted Western democratic governments,and likely has a brighter future than most of them. Why is the West so eager for China to abandon a centuries-old system that clearly works well, in favor of one designed for ideological battles, conflicts and shouting wars? Many foreign observers are now, (finally) admitting openly that China’s form of government exhibits signs of superiority over Western systems, and that it is largely responsible for China’s efficiency, for its rapid development, and for its speed of response in areas like the Sichuan earthquake and the planning and deployment of its high-speed train system.

The “Free World” could learn a lot from China’s government system. It works, beautifully. It has transformed the economy and brought hundreds of millions out of poverty. It has put men into space, built the world’s fastest trains, the longest undersea tunnels, the world’s longest bridges, the largest dams.

It is rapidly creating the world’s largest genuine middle class. And it’s hardly begun. (1) From an article by Eric Li.

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This article is not an academic exercise, but plainly written for the man in the street – a truthful presentation of facts & events. – Paul Chong

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

A Tribute with Repute

A once-upon“goreng pisang” seller who would be king.

(banana-fritter)

Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, the man who authored “The Malay Dilemma”is sort of in a state of dilemma with his own retirement after 22 years in power. Initially, he was sacked from the UMNO Supreme Council by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the inaugural Prime Minister, and his book (1970) was banned. That was after the racial riot of May 13, 1969. However, a shrewd, cunning & clever politician that he is, he maneuvered his way back from the political wilderness, and on 16 July 1981 established himself as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. What sort of epitaph awaits him? Only time will tell . . . as it is, his political chess game is not over yet . . .

A doctor by profession, he was born in Alor Setar, Kedah in December 1925. Now 83 years young, he’s still mentally alert & physically fit, except for his heart. The youngest of nine children, his school teacher father was a half Indian, son of a Malayalee muslim from Kerala. Mahathir’s own mother, like his own father’s, was a Malay. In Malaysia, we refer these people of Indian-Malay mix as “Mamak”. He graduated as a medical doctor from King Edward VII Medical College (the present National University of Singapore) where he registered as an Indian. Dr. Siti Hasmah binti Haji Mohamad Ali, a fellow doctor & former classmate & a Malay, became his wife. Together they have four sons & three daughters – all filthy rich. To survive during the Japanese Occupation years, he once sold “goreng pisang” (banana fritter).

He is a bit confused about his racial origin, and like all the other migrants from Indonesia & the Arab world, he claims himself to be a “Bumiputra”, which literally means “sons of the soil” – the kind of status that enjoys all the special rights & privileges conferred by law & legislation. For all other racial components, though similarly born & bred in the country, they are denied of the same status, let alone to beget the entitlements.

People who are not native Malays in Malaysia are generally more ultra & extreme in their outlook. I guess they need to prove their loyalty, so to say. Generally too, they are more aggressive, competitive & able than the average lay-back & traditional easy-going Malays, who are largely confined to the rural areas or on the fringes of towns & cities, which historically were established by the Chinese. The Indian component, apart from those involved as labourers in the rubber estates, are also urban in nature engaged in trade & commerce to some extent or as professional.

During his time of political wilderness, Mahathir wrote and published his little book “The Malay Dilemma” in 1970. It was a political exercise & brilliant ploy to attract attention. In it he was attempting to explain as to why the Malays were lesser off than the Chinese, their lack of economic progress, the reasons for the racial riot of May 13, the contributory factors of incest, in-breeding, heredity & also the environment. He even criticised Tunku Abdul Rahman for favouring the Chinese in his administration. The crux of the matter was he wielded a lot of support from the UMNO & he was back on the political road. The rest they say is history.

At different points in his political life, he was & is a figure of great controversy. He used & abused his political associates, criticising & condemning them once their usefulness was over. His political saga with his former deputy, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, is the famous or infamous one. There had been others like Tun Musa Hitam, also once a trusted deputy, Tun Ghaffar Baba, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, affectionately known as Pak Lah, the Prime Minister preceding the present Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak. The present one, raised & supported by him, now appeared to be going on his own way – not listening to him as like Pak Lah. All his big proposed projects have either been shelved or ignored completely. Mahathir is not standing by idly looking on. He is really fuming.

Mahathir is also known to be an outspoken critic of the Westerners. His tongue is either very lose or he’s a big mouth. His quarrels with George Soros, our former Prime Minister Paul Keating, the American or British never failed to hit the headlines. Even across the causeway, he’s not too friendly with Lee Kuan Yew. Here you can sense a tint of jealousy. Mahathir is far from his Singapore rival’s league in terms of recognition, respect & honour. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew still commands attention in Singapore, he’s a much sought after speaker internationally, & he’s got his name edged in perpetuity in NUS – Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Singapore, without any natural resources, was doomed to fail after its separation from Malaysia, has outpaced & outrun Malaysia in more ways than one – all attributed to Lee Kuan Yew. Mahathir has a great distrust & distaste for the West – definite big critic for Western globalisation.

In all fairness, Mahathir has had some pluses & credits due to him:

longest serving Prime Minister in Malaysia – 22 years

longest serving political leader in Asia

accredited with setting up the first motor industry – Perodua

the building of Pernas Twin Tower, then tallest in the world

also changing the skyline of KL with Telekom Tower

the building of the North-South Freeway for ease &

speed of communication

credited to engineering the rapid modernisation of Malaysia.

These are some of the mega projects at tremendous massive costs to the country. He’s a real successful family man in that his offspring are “fabulously rich”.

When it comes to the question of cost, the public coffer could do without the notorious CCN (more prominent than the CNN of the media world, which came into prominence as a consequence of 9/11 & the Iraq War). However, this CCN, sounds ambiguously like CNN (please confuse them not) stands for Corruption, Cronyism & Nepotism, which are so rampant & deeply rooted that even the most reputable international audit firm wouldn’t dare to handle. This outrageous practice, among those UMNO connected, has & is creating a filthy rich class of people at the expense of the general population & worst of all the poor & deserved society at large, discounting colour, race or creed.

The racial riot of May 13, 1969 marks the water-shed in the history of Malaysia. Prior to this date, there was the unspoken giving & taking that stood at least on a bearable proportion. Since then all hell broke lose and everything of economic value was forcefully ripped off by law & legislation (NEP). Tun Abdul Razak, the second Prime Minister, father of the present Prime Minister, initiated the move with new national education program of language switching from English to Bahasa Malaysia, and the introduction of NEP (New Economic Policy) doing away with the supposedly outdated 5-year Plan.

Of course, the political & economic woes of Malaysia are not attributed entirely to Mahathir. After the initiation launch by Tun Abdul Razak, it was followed by Tun Hussein Onn, & Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (1999 -2003) who came to power after Mahathir’s retirement. Each had a hand in implementing & perpetuating this grossly unfair & unjust practice of sharing the economic cake & other privileges.

The Telekom Tower featuring Mahathir on its

facade during Merdeka Celebration in 2004.

Mahathir, without doubt, topped them all with his brand of politics. He was the supreme leader – anyone not with him would be deemed to be against him. He ruled with iron fists, did away with the independence of judiciary, the separation of law, law & order completely under his belt . . . the list just goes on.

The once “Goreng Pisang” (Banana Fritter) seller became the king of kings.

For twenty-two years he reigned in glory & supreme.

His reign is over but he is reluctant to let go. He expects to be listened to by Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak, the son of Tun Abdul Razak, the man who started it all & who died untimely due to cancer. Najib was really groomed & supported by Mahathir. At the height of May 13, Najib returned from UK as a fresh young inexperienced man & followed his ailing father into politics. He has had an easy ride without an ounce of effort or accomplishment. Opportunities just placed him & fitted him in. His abilities & capabilities have never been shown or exhibited. It could come to pass, as they say, “easy come easy go”.

Democracy as practised in Malaysia is laughable. It’s communal & dominating in style with the Alliance Party in power since independence from the British government. Though the Alliance Party is composed of the other two major communal components the MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) and the MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress), it has been UMNO (United Malays national Organisation) truly holding the power. The other two are but stooges, plainly standing by without resistance or opposition seeing to the giving & freely taking of all the rights & privileges, while self-fulfilling their own personal agenda at the expense of the population.

Tun Musa Hitam, the then Deputy Prime Minister in the 1970s, had warned the Chinese when addressing a group of us in ADMO (Alliance Direct Members Organisation – long defunct, was only a window dressing organisation for true equality that transcended racial line). Nobody heeded the warning to be more politically involved instead of wholly concentrating on the economic side of affairs. The less competitive Malays wisely seized the political power & thereby established their standing. Everything became to be stamped & controlled by them. The dawn arrived frightfully sooner than imaginable. They have been taking 30% share of everything, without any monetary input or talent, that which you’ve been building through sweat & blood dwindled in size & significance overnight. Even all trading & commerce with China have to be through Pernas, the Malay controlled government agency. Progressively, marginalization set in for the Chinese & the Indians in all spheres of livelihood in the country – education, employment, business, government contracts and others. This they did & are still doing – all in the name of fair & equal distribution of wealth. But is it?

History has a way of repeating itself. Like the majority of the Germans, they were not bothered by the smaller group of Nazis, but then what happened? The Nazis took control of the country & before long history was in the making. History also pointed out to the fall of the great Roman Empire. The house that failed to stand together would soon yield & collapsed. History has proven this from time to time – it has never been proven otherwise.

Be warned about being a frog in the well, for there is such a swell world out there! In this age of globalisation, expect not to be living in political isolation. In the name of international justice, polarization, discrimination, marginalization must not be if men are to be free. “All men are born equal” is globally accepted as the guiding light in the practice of fairness for mankind. No man is an island. We are interlinked & interdependent upon one another. The connectedness of life is obvious between people in the country, also country and country.

It’s obvious that the NEP breeds only an elite class of super rich, benefiting only those with the right connectedness with UMNO. These people have become to be famously known as “UMNOputras”.

Let’s look at the list below, and then you’ll be the sole judge & jury as to what is fair & just or who is being marginalized . . . these among others are under the power & control of UMNO:

Land rights & ownership

Special rights & privileges as provided by NEP

Army, Police & government civil services

Political power in Malays’ hands

All economic policies & law-making

Tertiary education & scholarship awards

Public building contracts

Job availabilities & employment opportunities

Oil companies & banks

There has been an unprecedented brain drain from Malaysia when the brilliant & talented class chose to work & live in foreign lands rather than to be denied of job & promotional opportunities – to be downright discriminated in their homeland. It is a glaring fact, for instance, the Chinese students would need to possess 13As & above to qualify for top university places or awards for scholarships, whereas a Malay could get in with Bs & Cs. All top posts in every field are held by them – and not on meritorious ground.

The list of unfairness, discrimination & dissatisfaction is far too long to state here. Suffice for me to say that the time has come when we say “Enough is enough”.

The NEP was initiated back for an agreed span of 30 years. That period limit has come & gone. It is too good to be giving back that privilege – for the small privileged group never had it so good. Democracy must be practised with meritocracy. Everyone, born & bred in the country, must have the same privilege & opportunity of competing for the expanding economic cake. It’s their birthright!

The shine on the land of the Golden Chersonese is being slowly & surely rubbed off. Lesser land like Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore with less or no natural resources are doing better than Malaysia. There’s got to be a new direction in all fairness to all – a change to be brought about for growth & progress of the nation. Together the nation must stand united as one. It appears the “One Malaysia” slogan has been adopted by Dato’ Sri Najib, the present Prime Minister. However, it is in the proper implementation that will generate the right stimulation. For a starter, all discrimination, polarization & marginalization must go, then work together for the greater goal.